Comfort Me With Apples
by LabyrinthRunner13
Summary: It's been 10 years since Sarah has seen or heard from the citizens of the Underground. When war breaks out in the Labyrinth, the labyrinthians name Sarah their champion and charge her with saving their tortured King. Can she make it through a Labyrinth that has matured as she has? Will she be able to save the king? Will there be anything left?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I owe nothing that is in anyway related to the Labyrinth or its actors, producers, or directors. They in turn, do not own me.

**Chapter One- or, The night the lights went out. **

Sarah sat yawning at her keyboard for the fifth night in a row. Each of the previous nights, she had forced herself to carry her coffee to her computer and sit, waiting for _it_. It had always happened that way before. _It_ always came to her when she was quiet and still. Sometimes _it_ would be subtle. Shyly peeking around corners, waiting to be gently coaxed into the light. Sometimes _it_ would hit her like a freight train and the frenzy would begin. But it always happened this way.

This time _it_ was being a real bitch. A real elusive bitch. _It_. That was the way she referred to her inspiration. Not tangible, nothing she could see, but most writers that she knew wanted to take credit for their stories. Wanted to go into detail about how terribly clever they were for manipulating the plot in some way or for creating a particularly shocking reveal. Sarah had never felt that way about _it. _Her inspiration, her stories, found her. They came to her, either in pieces or in whole, but already formed. There was no story boarding, no puzzling out of plot or sequence. Sarah often thought that it was as if, the stories happened- and then came to Sarah to have themselves told.

Her cell phone twittered merrily away on her desk, startling her out of- well, nothing really. She picked the phone up, silenced it and smacked it smartly back down.

"Well Peanut, I don't think _it_ is coming tonight. I'm gonna turn in. Hungry?" Even as she spoke, she rolled her eyes. When had she become one of those batty women who spoke to their cats?

_When you moved out on your own and gave up polite society to be a closeted author. _

_Is talking to myself less batty than talking to my cat?_

The cat in question had already turned tail and was patiently waiting by her food bowl. Sarah filled the bowl with the last remainders of kibble at the bottom of the bag and winced… if she didn't write something soon, she'd have to feed the poor cat lunch meat and pasta salad again. Not that the little black and white fiend didn't regularly supplement her own diet with such things anyway.

Looking around her spare apartment, it was impossible for Sarah not too see all the things that could be improved upon. She had a laundry list somewhere, of things to be done, but with the exception of "Write laundry list", they all required a great deal more extra money than she had brought in with the sale of her last book.

That wasn't even accounting for her agent. Larry Showater was the only reason that she was a published author. He was determined and single minded which made him a great agent, but he was also greedy, pushy and shady of morality and character. Add those together with the fact that her deadline for new material had been two weeks ago, and the 13 flashing "missed calls" and pile of mail on her counter started to make sense.

Considering that her moment of inspiration wasn't coming tonight, she decided that the best course of action was a preemptory retreat so she dumped her cold coffee in the sink, flipped the kitchen light off and headed to her bedroom.

Her bed beckoned her, promising comfort and the brief respite from hopelessness that sleep offered. Anxious to give in to its siren call, she yanked the clip out of her dark hair, ran a brush through it a couple of times and then tied it out of the way. Since she had been home all day, her clothes didn't amount to much more than yoga pants and a tank top, but she shed them in favor of her faded gray nightshirt.

It was almost painful to make herself walk the 20 feet to her bathroom to brush her teeth, but she did it anyway. And that was her first big mistake. In the days to come, Sarah would wish, very emphatically, that she had simply gone to sleep with coffee breath.

A/N: And there you have it. An entire chapter in which NOTHING occurs. No snogging, leather pants, fluffy hair and not even a hint of Eau de Bog. ::Goes to check:: This was a Labyrinth fic, right? Do not be fooled my fluffy hamsters, for a dark story waits, with a dark purpose. :-D


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer- I don't own the Labyrinth, any characters from the Labyrinth, or even any Labyrinth action figures. I'm pretty upset about it. Also, somebody pointed out that my Disney was showing. So, I might as well let you know that I'm not affiliated with Disney either. Or its affiliates. We have no affiliation.

**Chapter 2- Or, The Reaping**

Sarah did not notice anything amiss at first. She stumbled into the bathroom, flicked the light on and glanced at her reflection in the bathroom mirror.

At least, that was what she had attempted to do.

Instead, she stared in horror at the carnage contained within the silver frame. There, in horrifyingly clear color imagery, she saw savagery and hostilities the likes of which she had only experienced in horror films. She touched a hand to the mirror, attempting to push it away and was hit suddenly with full surround sound audio. Moans and screams could be heard from all directions. A strange hissing noise filled the lower registers of her hearing. She scanned the mirror, desperately trying to match pictures to their sounds, but her brain flat out refused to process some of the images. One image however, stood out above the others.

"HOGGLE!" Sarah gasped, shocked. The little dwarf was only barely recognizable, standing at the edge of the fray. He turned towards her mirror, almost seeming to move in slow motion, his expression confused. The front of his clothing was covered in blood, and one of his eyes was swollen shut. The rest of him was painted various shades of black and blue.

"Sar-" Hoggle's question was cut off as something exploded very close to where he was standing and he was thrown of balance and out of Sarah's field of view. Percussive explosions echoed one after another, deafening her hearing while dirt and debris and fire rained down in front of her.

"Oh God, Oh God! What is happening? Hoggle! Hoggle!"

Suddenly, the view through her mirror was moving, graphic images flashing before her as whoever had picked up the mirror on the other side ran from the middle of the battle. Her brain, so reluctant to process information before, was now slowly beginning to make sense of the pictures. Large fires burned here and there, illuminating the scene with a ghostly orange cast. The stones, already rust colored in the late afternoon light, were largely painted with blood and other glistening fluids. Broken pieces of… civilization littered the area, sometimes covering what could only be…. Her brain supplied the last piece of the puzzle. Limbs and unidentifiable body parts lay strewn wildly over the rocky landscape. Flies swarmed in black masses, covering what they could.

Over and through this mess of destruction moved…. monsters. She had no other word for them. She had met so many different beings on her trip through the labyrinth, but none of them compared to the black shapes that crawled over the carnage. Even worlds away and separated by magic and glass, she could feel them. They were foul. Evil.

Sound came back to Sarah in a rush. She heard her own harsh breath in her ears, breathing too fast and shallow in an effort to keep herself from being ill. She struggled to hear anything from the other side of the mirror.

As suddenly as the movement had started, it stopped. Hoggle's bloodied face popped into view.

"You know what's happened?" He asked gruffly.

"No! Of course not! What's wrong! What are those things? What's happening?"

Hoggle sighed and looked behind him. Deciding that he was safe enough for the moment, he squatted down in front of the mirror and looked at Sarah hard.

"You never call fer us anymore, Sarah."

"I haven't- that is, I don't… what does that have to do with anything?" She wished she was there so she could shake him a bit. What the hell did one thing have to do with the other?

"You ain't needin' us anymore. That's just fine, but we sure need you right now." The desperation in his voice was clear.

"Why? What's happening? What can I do?"

Hoggle pulled something brown out of his bag and began to chew it, glancing behind himself again.

"I'd rather not be the one ter tell you this…" He sighed. "I'm not really even sure how… Well, I guess the most important thing for you to know is-"

The mirror went blank.

Sarah's jaw dropped in shock.

"Hoggle! I need you! Hoggle!" The mirror showed only her own haunted eyes and the blank wall behind her.

"So help me God, Hoggle, if you don't get back here and explain-" she pounded her closed fists against her useless reflection, ignoring the tears that were leaking down her face. The shock that had settled in when she had first witnessed the gore was starting to fade and icy terror was creeping in to take its place.

"What's happening to you guys?" She whispered.

"I believe that_ I_ am best suited to answer that." Said a silky voice from just inches behind her ear.

World's away, there lay a cold stone floor. A figure, shrouded in shadow, slumps against the stone wall, his ankles and wrists bound in iron restraints. His head is bowed and he sleeps fitfully. Moonlight and shadows are kind to this scene.

In the darkness, everything is black and white. His hair, though dirty and hanging lankly around his face still shines white in the moonlight. His skin, exposed to the cold by his lack of clothing is almost as stark. The bruises covering his face and shoulders are merely shadows. The bloody wheals crisscrossing his back are just dark lines, harmless in the dark. In the light, they are frightening and piteous, but in the dark, in the dark… blood has no tragedy.

A/N- Well, you may have noticed that I changed the rating on this story. I knew from the beginning that this story was going to be a little bit dark, but Oy vey! One minute everything is coffee and kitties and the next thing you know, Hoggle is under attack from heavy artillery, the Labyrinth is on fire and someone is chained up, naked and bleeding. This is probably why the other kiddies never let me play with their toys. Also, I don't think it will take me so long to post the next chapter seeing as how it's poking me in the brain trying to get out.

P.S. Please put reviews in the writer. Feedback is not only appreciated, but vital. I'm not sure how dark I can go with a story based on a movie meant for children. But the plot bunnies in my head are turning black and growing fangs…. Help!


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I own a few things. Unfortunately enough for me, the Labyrinth isn't one of them.

**Author's note**: Ok, yes, it took me longer than I thought that it would to finish this chapter. Unfortunately, that's because I knew chapter three was going to have to be the exposition chapter and expository writing within fiction is not easy for me. Action? Easy. Smut? Easy. Exposition? Gag me with bog water. But there are several future scenes that have been smacking me about the head and shoulders with a stick trying to get me to write them down, and I of course couldn't get there without this bit. Without further ado, I give you:

**Chapter Three- Or, A Glimmer Of Hope**

Sarah spun around with a gasp. There was a woman in her bathroom. She was standing right behind her, even though her mirror had shown her to be completely alone. Her entrance had been silent, glitter-less, and though she was glowering at Sarah quite ominously, she was dressed almost gaily. She wore a white sun dress that fell to her ankles, no shoes and had white rose buds woven throughout her blond hair. She was shorter than Sarah by at least a couple of inches, and if she didn't have such a wretched look on her face, Sarah would have called her beautiful.

"Who are you?" She whispered.

"Who indeed." She replied without really answering. "Well Sarah, will you accept the dwarf's challenge? Will you run to help your friends and their wayward leader?"

"The Goblin King needs my help?"

The woman tsked at her. "Not exactly, little one. There is no Goblin King anymore. Although… Jareth could certainly use your help." She gestured at the mirror.

Sarah turned her head, not anxious to give her back to the stranger, but did a double take when she saw the image reflected back at her. She turned around fully and took a step towards it, eyes widening and stomach turning. The hair on the back of her neck stood out straight as she took in the horrifyingly piteous sight.

"What's happening to them? What's going on?" She asked again as she dragged her eyes away from the victim in the mirror.

"Why, I'm happening to them, you silly thing. I would have thought that that much was obvious."

Sarah was briefly stunned into silence.

The blonde woman leaned forward for a moment, seemingly admiring her handiwork and then took a few prancing steps back so she was facing Sarah again.

"I ask again, mortal, and my patience is not limitless by the way, Will you take up the mantle of champion for them? For him?" She gestured again at the bathroom mirror, but Sarah was too afraid to look behind her again. There was too much- she shuddered.

"Why are you doing this? What have they done?"

"Done. Done? What can you mean by that, I wonder. Are you asking me what they have already done defend themselves against me? Or perhaps you meant, what have they done to bring this upon themselves?"

Sarah merely nodded.

"You know, I think my game will be much more interesting if I don't answer. Will it stop you from giving your aid? Will it force you to my Labyrinth, in order to seek answers? Will the puzzle drive you mad?" She was practically hopping with mirth.

Sarah's mind was racing. Could she help? Would she end up trapped? Or dead? Was this woman really as insane as she seemed and was there a way to get her out of the apartment? Why did it bother her so much that the woman had referred to it as "HER" Labyrinth? Sarah's eyes darted to the phone, and as if she knew the thoughts running through Sarah's head, the little woman sang out.

"Ah, ah, ah. None of that now. I thought for sure you would be more cooperative than this. Your reputation for your mercy is quite legendary. I shall have to impose a time limit." She tapped one long slender finger against a full bottom lip. "You have 1 minute to make your decision."

"What happens if I say no?" Sarah begged.

The woman smiled unpleasantly. "Why, I shall go back to your friends and tell them that their elected champion has declined to fight for them. I imagine that should drain them of hope and end this futile resistance. Their leader shall either be executed or enslaved. Depending of course on his level of cooperation. You on the other hand, can go back to your books and coffee and put all of this unpleasantness behind you." She finished with what was clearly supposed to be a charming smile.

"Elected champion?"

"Oh yes. I had dearly hoped to forced Jareth to run his own Labyrinth you see, by offering his little subjects the chance to select a champion to defeat the Labyrinth for them and thereby free them from their suffering. Imagine my surprise that the little idiots chose a common mortal girl over their king and creator." She shook her head, smiling, as if it were all one big funny joke. "Regardless, I only gave them one chance at a champion and they chose to spend it on you."

Sarah hung her head. "It seems I have no choice."

"Of course you do. There is always a choice. I think what you meant to say is that you have no _attractive _choice."

Sarah tried to think. Her choices were apparently to give herself over into the power of a lunatic, or live with the knowledge that she had condemned her friends to death- or worse. The Goblin K- Jareth… He had terrified her, he had tempted her, and he had left her with a bitter taste in her mouth even as he had freed her and her brother, but all she could feel towards him now was pity. She felt sick to her stomach when she thought of what she had seen. She tried to draw her thoughts back from the edge.

"Tick tock. I must have your decision Sarah."

"Yes. I'll fight for them. What will I have to do?" She asked.

The woman gave a sinister grin and gestured broadly. "You must run the Labyrinth of course."

Sarah stumbled forward and almost hit the ground as her bathroom dissolved around her. Her feet no longer felt the smooth, cold white tiles of her bathroom. Instead, she now stood on a rocky, barren hillside in the middle of a desert, in the dark. The crescent moon overhead gave off minimal light. If she squinted and strained, she could see a thick copse of trees, far off and to her left. Spinning in a circle revealed that the other three sides were occupied by a dead, sandy landscape. There was nothing here that she recognized. She had dreamed about the Labyrinth many times, could remember each detail as if it had happened minutes ago, as opposed to the 10 years that had actually passed. She could honestly say, as she looked around her, that she knew nothing of this place.

She looked back up at the blonde woman, now standing against a tree smiling beatifically.

"Who are you?" Sarah asked for the second time.

"No, no, no. Now that would be telling. You must find your answers for yourself, little one. But time is short and you're asking all the wrong questions. After all, how can you begin to hope to win without knowing your goal?"

"I already asked, what do I have to do?" Sarah spit out. The initial shock factor was waning and she was quickly becoming annoyed at the patronizing and the teasing. "Where are my friends? What have you done with them?"

The other woman's eyes darkened ominously. "Now hold your tongue, little wretch, or I shall hold it for you." Her head twitched twice and she narrowed her eyes as she spoke, her voice deepening by several octaves. "Sarah Williams. You are charged as the people's champion. Tasked with finding the deposed king and restoring him to his throne. As payment to your people, you must also give your aid to anyone in the underground that asks for it. You must not-"

Sarah straightened and cut her off. "Where is the Goblin King?"

The woman merely gave her an irritated scowl. "I've already told you, that would be telling. Besides. You've seen him in your mirror. Surely the woman who holds so much regard within the Labyrinth will have no trouble using that to her advantage?" She began to fade away.

"Wait! Where is the Labyrinth?" She was no longer in her bathroom, but she certainly hadn't been taken to the entrance of the Labyrinth, as she had before. There was no maze to be seen, and the Castle beyond the Goblin city was nowhere on the horizon.

The fading voice laughed. It was a mad sound. Laced with malice and reeking of insanity. "Oh you precious, precious thing. You have 13 days in which to solve the Labyrinth…. Before it and its king… cease to exist."

Sarah was left standing alone on a forgotten hillside. Her eyes wide, she though shakily about how different this was from the last time she was challenged with the Labyrinth. Last time, she had felt overwhelmed and daunted. This time was different. This time, she already felt defeated. She stood alone on the rocks, barefoot in her nightie, in the dark and she couldn't even see the Labyrinth. She oriented herself towards the trees in the distance, and began to carefully navigate the rough rocks.

Falling for the umpteenth time and gouging her hand once more, she suddenly stopped in her tracks. "13 days!?"

~~~Somewhere in the Labyrinth~~~

Jareth was startled out of sweet oblivion suddenly and without warning. He struggled first physically against the rough iron manacles that had bloodied his wrists and poisoned his blood, leaving him without magic and quickly getting weaker. When that proved futile, he tried to figure out what on earth it was that had awakened him, subjecting him to his pain and humiliation once more.

Whatever it was, it was dancing on the edge of his awareness, coming near enough for him to feel like he almost had it, and then darting away again quickly once he tried to focus on it. It was exhausting. He tried to shrug his shoulders to ease the tension of being bound with his hands above his head, but he only succeeded in reopening the cuts on his wrists and back. Defeated, he tried to sink back into oblivion, but whatever it was that had awoken him was still there. Almost like there was a new smell in his dank, dark little hole. A new smell that reminded him-

And there it was. Sarah. Sarah had come back after all.

At first when his traitorous little subjects had spoken her name instead of his when asked for their choice of champion he had felt confused and betrayed. Two emotions that were almost entirely foreign to him. In the three weeks since that had happened however, he had had ample time to reflect. She was the only one that they had ever seen defeat the Labyrinth. It made a simplistic kind of sense. In addition, Sarah was the absolute complete opposite of Cordelia- in every possible way. Most of his subjects had though patterns that mirrored those of small children. They couldn't possibly know the implications of bringing back the one person who had ever defeated his Labyrinth.

He truly hadn't expected her to come at all. It had been 10 years since she had left. Surely she had stopped believing by now? That alone should have kept her safe. And even if she hadn't, well, she hadn't contacted any member of his kingdom since that night 10 years ago. Surely that meant that she had simply stopped caring? At any rate, he had spent his nights wondering what kind of punishment he would suffer when she refused their summons, so he was greatly shocked to feel her here now.

And feel her he could. He might be bound, beaten, poisoned and fresh out of magic, but he was still connected to the Labyrinth, and the Labyrinth knew exactly where she was. It could feel her bare feet, leaking blood into the soil. It could sense her despair, her confusion and her urgency. Unlike 10 years ago however, Jareth could feel the Labyrinth responding to her like an eager puppy. Willing to do anything to please its champion. There was no sense of adversary coming from it. It didn't like the changes that had come about and luckily, it still had the power to do something about it.

No, Jareth might not care for having his adversary back, traipsing all over his kingdom, but at least he had something now that he hadn't had 3 weeks ago. A glimmer of hope.

A/N- I do want to take a moment to thank those who have reviewed this already. I really, really appreciate it. I have several more chapters story boarded already; unfortunately, taking them from outline to ready to post takes more time than I would like. Getting feedback really helps my motivation. Also, up to this point, these have been edited and reviewed by me. However, I am quickly approaching things that are complex, action-packed and perhaps even a little smutty and I would love to have a beta to both help me edit and rein me in when the crazy comes out. Anyone willing to help me out?


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